Underneath the Mistletoe
by MitsukiJunko
Summary: "Hey, Let's play a game." Eiji said. "What kind of game?" Momo asked the acrobatic player. Someone answered for him, "What about we play flower meanings?" Read the whole plot.


**Hi There! I am here to present to you my Christmas fic of The Prince of Tennis this time. I hope you like it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Prince of Tennis and never will.**

* * *

**Underneath the Mistletoe**

"I am bored, nya." Eiji lazily announced on Christmas Eve. They had been rallying with his doubles partner against Inui and Kaidoh pair for two hours. They were getting tired already. Actually they had been playing all day as much as they dedicated their time for tennis.

"Ne, Eiji. It's already Christmas. Should we do something different today."

The acrobatic player along with the other regulars looked at their mother hen.

"Something different?" Momo looked at his kouhai and said, "Didn't we celebrate Echizen's birthday enough for the day?"

Ryoma just pinned his hat down. He had just finished playing with his best buddy.

"Well, we can celebrate more and extend it until tomorrow. Who's up until dawn?" Kawamura suddenly announced to them.

"E-eh? Maji?" Sakuno who heard them talk asked, "B-but staying all night-"

"I think I knew what Ryuzaki-chan meant. Are you sure about that?" Oishi asked the powerhouse player. The later nodded about that.

"It's Christmas anyway, so it should be okay."

"Hoi, hoi, hoi. How about we play a game?" Eiji suddenly suggested.

"But Kikumaru-senpai, we've been playing all the time." Momo said tapping his racket to his shoulder.

Eiji faced him, "I'm not talking about tennis; I am talking about another game."

"So… what game?" Oishi asked him.

The acrobatic player thought hard. True that he was the one who suggested it but he couldn't think of anything.

"How about we play flower meanings?"

They looked to the person who spoke the last. They saw the tensai together with their coach, the captain and the data analyzer walking towards them.

"Flower meanings? What's that?" Momo asked looking at him.

Fuji wore his smile obviously all the time and said, "Well, we are going to find these flowers according to their meanings. Whoever finds the flowers in the fastest way wins."

"That's so childish." Kaidoh hissed.

Fuji looked at the viper, "It's interesting, believe me."

Inui intercepted as he pushed the bridge of his glasses, "Actually everything is prepared. We have all the meanings here and all you've got to do is to find those flowers. The flowers are all hidden inside the school premises."

"But how are we going to recognize those flowers? We don't even know which is which anyways" Eiji retorted.

"Good question, Eiji," Sumire said, "The meanings of the flowers have the corresponding meanings attached to the flowers, so don't worry."

"Some flowers are not common in Japan so only pictures are available." Inui reminded them and was being replied by nods.

"Sounds good to me, I guess," Tomoka said, "Can we join sensei?"

Sumire looked at the girl and nodded, "this game is for everyone."

"Tomoka-chan…" Sakuno was trying to object but Sumire continued.

"Since this game is for Christmas, it is good to have fun sometimes. So it's okay if you stay awake for the night," Sumire looked at her granddaughter, "even you Sakuno, I permit you for today."

Sakuno blushed as she looked away, "H-hai."

"This is boring, can I go home now?" Ryoma said who was quiet the whole conversation suddenly stood up and attempted to walk away but Momo stopped him.

"You are going to join this game, Echizen," Momo retorted, "this is somewhat interesting even though it's… girly."

Ryoma looked at him and still struggling from his grip, "You said it yourself senpai… This game is girly."

"You will not think of this game as girly once you heard the price." Sumire suddenly said making everyone looked back at their coach even Ryoma and Momo.

"There's a price?" Eiji asked after a series of shock.

Sumire nodded and showed a piece of coupon in front of them, "This is a blank coupon. You can write anything you want here and present this coupon to any stores of your choice. This is only a promo on Christmas day and it's only a day unlimited."

Everyone's eyes grew wide as they saw the coupon on their Coach's hand.

"I'll definitely have that coupon." Eiji said who was becoming interested with the game more.

In an instant, Ryoma returned to his seat. He smirked as he stared at the blank coupon. Momo winced on his kouhai's reaction.

"It'll be exciting to search by pair but it would be more challenging to search individually." Inui announced, "It's up for you to decide."

"I won't mind pairing with Oishi," Eiji said as he looked at his partner. Oishi just nodded.

"Echizen, let's pair up." Momo said to him.

"Uissu." He replied as shortly as that.

"Tezuka, you wouldn't mind pairing up with me, would you?" Fuji asked their captain.

The captain talked for the first time, "Do not let your guard down."

"Let's pair up Tomoka-chan." Sakuno said.

Tomoka nodded, "Of course, let's aim for the coupon."

The rest decided to search of their own. Inui gave the following meanings individually. They have to find five flowers and if they were decided to pair they were holding ten flowers in total.

"If you decided to search in pair, you only have to find five flowers but be sure that each of you can find the corresponding flowers to their meanings." Inui said.

"You mean, we need to find five flowers in total each of us have." Eiji said.

"Yes, for example, you found two flowers and Oishi found three flowers that will be enough for winning the game." Inui said, "With that, it would be fair for the people who would search alone."

"That's okay. I guess." Oishi said which was followed by the others.

Inui started writing their names at the back of the papers to avoid cheating.

Thus, the game started.

Oishi and Kikumaru started to run inside the building. The former read all the meanings he had;

"A Friend in Need, Childishness, Open heart, Sympathy and compassion… I don't even know these flowers. What about you, Eiji?"

Kikumaru scanned the set of meanings he had, "Hmmm, it's hard too. Healing, Warmth of feelings, Sensitivity-ahh I know this one… it's mimosa… the fourth one… Folly and glee and True friendship."

"I know your youth and glee and true friendship. Let's find those flowers that we both know." Oishi announced.

Eiji nodded, "Let's go nya." They went inside a room and saw their first clue. Although, the place was filled with pictures but they had to look for the right flower. They all looked the same but the meanings were different. They sweat dropped.

"This is harder than expected." Oishi said who decided to start looking at the pictures. Eiji followed him.

**xxx**

Kaidoh and Kawamura decided to pair up and found their first flower meaning already.

"Sugoi, Kaidoh how did you know the flower meaning of this?" Kawamura said holding the picture of Hyacinth in his hand.

Kaidoh just shrugged, "I just knew it… maybe because it's games and sports. But we still need to find the others."

"You are right about that; let's start finding Open heart and Symbol of a perfect lover. Then we will find the rest."

Kaidoh just nodded to his senpai. They started looking for the other pictures.

**xxx**

The rest started to look for their flowers as well. The trio went on their separate ways and Arai paired with one of them. The other freshmen also did the same thing. The others found their flowers easily as if they'd know what kind of flowers they were searching for. Momo and Ryoma decided to separate to haste their search and would meet after thirty minutes while Tomoka and Sakuno did the same thing much to the latter's objection. Sakuno was bad at directions but she decided to look for the flowers in the end.

"Na, Tezuka, do you know the flower meaning of Wealth and Pride?" Fiji asked him.

"Tiger Lily." He said as fast as that.

"Then what about Affection and love?"

"Mistletoe."

"You're good. What about Airy?"

Tezuka answered nonchalantly, "Delphinium."

"Hmmm what about-"

"Fuji…"

"Hai." He smiled.

"Deceit."

"W-what?"

"What's the meaning of deceit?"

"…"

"…"

**xxx**

Sakuno as usual is losing her way again. She went to a classroom and found some pictures that were spread all over the place.

"M-mou… why are there lots of pictures here… ummm," she looked at her meanings and carefully examine those pictures, "Youth and poetry… Symbol of good luck… I love you…" she became confused when she looked at her meanings and then the pictures, "It will take a lot of time to find my flowers here."

She flinched when someone jerked a picture of flower in front of her. The flower has the word 'I love you' in it. She grabbed the picture and was about to thank the person who helped her;

"R-ryoma-kun!" She was shocked to see him there. She still accepted the flower.

"I heard you saying the meanings of your flowers and I found this." He said not looking at her.

It's the red chrysanthemum. She was blushing when she said her next words, "t-thank you."

The boy nodded, "where's your partner?"

"T-tomoka-chan said that we should part ways to make the search easier."

"Same as us." Ryoma stood up and waved his hands, "Good luck."

Sakuno stood up as well and said, "G-good luck too." She looked at the picture he gave her. He found her flower that had the meaning of 'I love you.' It was like the boy was confessing to her there. She blushed on her thoughts really hard. _Stop it Sakuno! You are just dreaming really hard. Focus on looking for your flowers._ With that she continued looking for the flower meanings.

**xxx**

The game continued. The game was definitely harder than expected. It seemed that Inui hid all the flowers between those wild flowers in the entire school. They also discovered that they almost had the same meanings of the flowers. Ryoma and Momo met several minutes ago but they only found two flowers so far while the others just got two or three. Tezuka and Fuji were still looking for the flowers. Even Tezuka knew about the meanings of the flowers he didn't know the real thing. He had to see them from a book if they were not common in their country. They found at least three flowers already. The others decided to give up halfway and the only left was the regulars, the girls and the trio with Arai.

They continued to look… in the library… at the gym… in the cafeteria even on the rooftop.

* * *

**Meanwhile: **

"You sure are pretty into it, Inui." Sumire said who suggested the whole thing.

The data analyzer just touched the bridge of his glasses and pushed it in, "It is fun, though."

"You are not planning anything, aren't you?"

"saa, who knows." He only said.

**xxx**

"I found one, Taka-san." Kaidoh said holding the picture of buttercup in his hand, "this is childishness."

Kawamura laughed on his comment, "sounds similar to the game, isn't it?"

"fshhh."

**xxx**

"Tomoka-chan, have you found the others?" Sakuno said when she saw her best friend running the hallway and approached her.

Tomoka pulled something out to her bag and showed white camellia picture, "You're adorable."

Sakuno was delighted, "We only need two pictures and we are done."

"Let's separate once again, let's meet here after twenty minutes," Tomoka announced running away from there, "And do not get lost okay."

Sakuno pouted, "Mou… then don't leave me behind."

Unknown to her presence, feline eyes were staring at her. He heard their conversation about the flowers. He smirked as he saw the girl walked on the different direction.

"Oi! Echizen, what are you looking at?" suddenly, the second powerhouse player approached him there.

Ryoma looked at him but pinned his hat at the same time, "nothing, what have you got senpai?"

Momo took out a picture, "I only got one, C-coreopsis? Did I pronounce it right? Always cheerful."

"Yarujan," he said taking out two pictures while smirking, "treasure and good fortune."

"We got three, the Hyacinth, Coreopsis and the…" he looked at his picture and read it, "Goldenrod. We need two more and we will be the winner."

"Uissu." He nodded.

"Let's win this, Echizen, meet you at the court after another ten minutes, okay." Momo said.

"Hmmm," Echizen gave him another smirk, "Momo-senpai can find a flower meaning in ten minutes."

"Baka just think positive, now go!" he started to run leaving him behind.

It would be easy for them if it was something tennis related but it wasn't. Ryoma was getting hyper to find those pictures because of one reason. He could be receiving unlimited ponta once he won this stupid game.

**xxx**

"Na, Tezuka, what is the meaning of-"

"Continue looking for the flowers Fuji."

"Hai…"

They went on with their conversation as like that although they already found their fourth flower.

Narcissus. Egotism and formality.

They went to find their last flower meaning. But since the tennis captain didn't say any word the entire game. Fuji started another one;

"Tezuka. Elope with me."

Tezuka looked at him with a frown on his face. The tennis tensai was smiling at him. Before the captain gave a different meaning to it he interrupted;

"What's that flower, I mean?" he smiled once more raising one finger in the air.

Tezuka closed his eyes, "Fuji…"

"Hai…"

"Ten laps tomorrow morning."

Fuji reacted a little but still smiling, "You don't know the answer? You are so sly."

"Twenty laps."

**xxx**

The night was getting darker but the game wasn't over yet. Sumire and Inui were still waiting for the person or people to win the game. The school was long over now but since there was still a teacher inside the school premises, students could still stay inside it.

It was still his birthday so it's okay. He was walking to the other side of the court while scanning the meanings that he had. Three of them were still missing and he needed to find at least one. He believed that Momo would find the other one. One meaning that caught his eyes;

'Oklahoma state flower.'

He raised his eyebrow when he read that meaning of a flower. It was pretty weird, weird from the others. Being raised in America, of course he knew the meaning of that flower not just the meaning, but the _entire_ meaning of it. He would never thank his father for telling him the meanings of it.

Out of reflexes, he looked above thinking that he could find one hanging from those trees. And he was not mistaken, as he walked by a large tree he saw one there;

"There it is." He said... but he was not the only one who said it. There was another voice.

A girl's voice to be précised.

He looked at the other side of the tree and saw her there… looking at him too. The girl was blushing as always.

"R-ryoma-kun." the girl looked away as she said her next words, "a-are you looking at the same flower t-too."

Ryoma who was a bit shocked recovered fast and nodded, "Ne, Ryuzaki, do you know the meaning of that flower?"

"E-eh?" the girl looked up and blushed; she looked away, "I-it's the mistletoe."

"What is the meaning of mistletoe?"

The girl blushed harder, she couldn't say it so she jerked it in front of him and read it.

'I want to be kissed.'

No wonder the girl was blushing. Of course, she knew the meaning of that. It's traditional. But he noticed something. _Wait, aren't flowers supposed to be pictures. Why is it this one different? _He thought but he never said it. A smirk formed on his face as he walked closer to the girl.

Anyway, it's now or never.

**xxx**

Her heart beat fast when he saw there at the other side of the tree, looking at the same flower. When she first read the flower meaning that she was holding, she knew what it was. She remembered her grandmother saying about the traditional customs of that flower. She tried looking for that flower since that beginning but she couldn't find it. She tried to look somewhere else and she succeeded. She found it. She found the mistletoe, the real one hanging on the tree.

With a Ryoma Echizen under it.

She flinched hard when the boy walked closer to her. She looked away as she was blushing really hard;

"U-ummm, y-you can have the flower… i-if you like."

Ryoma continued walking towards her, "I don't need the flower, what I need is _good luck_."

"R-ryoma-kun."

"And _we _need to perform 'it' to have that luck."

Her eyes widened. He was asking for 'it'. For real? She was able to stare at him; his stare was intent and serious. Just like when he was having a serious match with someone.

…Something that she always liked to see from him. And he was giving one to her now. But thinking about the thing he needed from her could give her a heart attack. She instantly walked backwards as he was drawing closer to her. The boy was alarmed so he grabbed her wrist and leaned her on the tree making her blush more.

"Stop neglecting me or we will both receiving bad luck." The boy said putting both of his hands on the tree cornering her there but still leaving spaces between them.

She was able to stare at him, "I-I am not neglecting…i-it's just that… that…"

"What is it?" the boy was not going to do 'it' unless she was willing to give in.

She raised one hand near to her lips and looked down, still blushing, "I-I am too embarrassed to—to do the ritual… b-because…"

"Because what?" he tilted his head to his left.

She closed her eyes real tight as she said her next words, "b-because it is you... whose going to do it."

That shocked him. The girl was embarrassed because of that… she was blushing really hard and he could understand the reason why… finally he did. He smiled unknown to her.

He couldn't see any neglect from her.

"I don't want to see you with another guy performing this ritual." He simply said keeping his usual tone, "I'd rather see you being single for another year than performing it."

"E-eh?" she was able to react as she snapped her eyes open.

"It's okay," The boy leaned closer to her ear and whispered something;

"I will only kiss the girl that I like."

Her eyes widened when she heard that and her lips were slightly opened. Ryoma saw that when he leaned back. He stared at her for a while before leaning once again and claimed her.

She felt that her heart skipped a beat when his lips touched hers. He was kissing her gently.

Underneath the mistletoe.

The two of them were kissing. Well, not particularly true. The boy was only doing the move. She calmed herself after a several seconds and then closing her eyes finally responding to his kiss.

He was right. She didn't want a bad luck either. She had been receiving bad luck a couple of times and its time to change that. Ryoma was helping her. She gave in to the kiss.

And she was really blushing hard.

It took for a while before they broke apart. She quickly looked down and covering her lips right away. Ryoma was looking at her amusingly;

"Yarujan." He smiled at her… not a smirk one.

She nodded due to embarrassment. Later on, Ryoma climbed the tree and removed one berry before picking the flower from its tree.

"You can have it." He said giving the flower to her.

"E-eh?" she was able to look at him and then to the flower.

"You can burn it after the game."

She knew what he meant. He kept the berry to himself and since the flower was not there anymore no one could kiss in that area, except from the other trees which had that same flower. The true etiquette the man should remove one berry after he kissed a woman and the kissing part would cease if all berries were gone. She accepted the flower and put it inside her bag.

"T-thank you." she blushed really hard.

Ryoma nodded, "I'll see you later." He said and then went off leaving her there behind.

She touched her lips after that and whispered something, "It's my… first kiss… with him."

A panicky thought invaded her as she tried to continue looking for the other flowers.

* * *

**Later on:**

"Man, we were so close!" Eiji said complimenting when they arrived back at the court bringing all five flowers with his hands. Oishi was behind him.

"Sorry Eiji, it seems a pair has already won." Sumire said announcing the real winner, "its Kawamura and Kaidoh pair."

Everyone congratulated the two regulars. Kawamura just put his hand to his head feeling a bit embarrassed about it while Kaidoh ignored them.

Momo and Ryoma arrived a little late too, as well as Fuji and Tezuka. Tomoka and Sakuno arrived seconds later as well as the trio. Ryoma noticed something when Fuji put the pictures they found on the table.

"Hey, Fuji-senpai, isn't that…?" Ryoma looked at a particular picture; Sakuno was also looking at it now.

"It's the mistletoe, why?" Fuji said looking at him. He noticed the boy's sudden change of reaction as well as the girl's blushing reaction. Fuji smiled at them, "I smell something fishy between you two."

The two looked at each other and then quickly looked away.

"N-nothing, nothing." Sakuno said securing her bag wishing that no one could notice about it.

Ryoma just pinned his hat thanking the girl secretly for keeping the 'flower' inside her bag. He would make sure that she would burn the flower for another reason.

Evidence.

Everyone stared at them. Momo and Tomoka never ceased to tease them much to the boy's annoyance and to the girl's embarrassment.

"Whatever happened to them, seemed to be an interesting one," Fuji said, "it was just a waste that I couldn't get them with my camera."

"che." He simply said. That only reminded him. He looked at the meaning of the flower once again. _Affection and love._ He read in his thought. He noticed that mistletoe meanings were the only one which had different meanings than the others. He simply looked at the data analysis.

Inui on the other hand, looked away when he sensed the stare his kouhai was giving him, "he noticed it." He whispered as lowly as that.

"Enough with the teasing towards the freshmen," Sumire interrupted after that, "Congratulations to the winners." The coach handed the coupon to Kawamura.

"You are lucky, Taka-san, Kaidoh." Eiji said.

"Congratulations to the both of you." Oishi greeted that.

Everyone greeted them too.

"Too bad, we didn't get the coupon Echizen." Momo said looking at his kouhai.

"That's okay." He said lowering his hat a little when he secretly looked at a certain pigtailed girl near him. _I already got my price anyway._

Kawamura held the coupon as he looked at Kaidoh. The latter nodded giving him a signal to voice his thoughts, "Minna, Kaidoh and I made a decision about this. We would like to share this coupon to everyone."

"Really!" Everyone looked at the powerhouse player.

Kawamura nodded. He raised the coupon above, "Who wants sushi?"

"WE DO!" Everyone shouted and approached him.

"Thank you so much, Taka-san."

"I knew you wouldn't share your blessings to yourself Kaidoh!" Momo said grabbing him from his shoulder.

"Stop doing that, you moron!"

"Hey, I am just praising you."

"Yeah, let's go and celebrate Christmas." Eiji announced making everyone shout.

"Lower your voice guys, let's go and spend the night at Kawamura house." Sumire said to them.

Sakuno was really happy about the outcome of the game. She would definitely think that this was the best Christmas ever. She accidentally looked at a certain tennis prodigy only to be shocked.

The boy was looking back at her, the same stare he gave her back at the tree. She blushed as she looked down and walked towards them… Almost walking beside him.

_Yap, definitely the best Christmas ever._

**~Owari~**

* * *

**Done! Did you like it? I hope you did. I dedicate this one-shot to the loveless people out there… like me… tee hee hee… Hey, but I am inspired so I am not totally loveless. But still this is for you… ^_^**

**Let's enjoy our lives to love and be loved… I love you so much…**

**Flower Meanings:**

**Mistletoe – Affection and Love, I want to be kissed, Oklahoma state flower**

**A Friend in Need - ****Adams's Needle**

**Childishness - ****Buttercup**

**Open heart - ****Larkspur**

**Sympathy - ****Thrift**

**Compassion - ****Allspice**

**Healing - ****Yarrow**

**Warmth of feelings - ****Peppermint**

**Sensitivity - ****Mimosa**

**Folly and glee – Red Jasmine **

**True friendship - ****Abor Vitae**

**Games and Sports - ****Hyacinth**

**Symbol of a perfect lover - ****Tulip**

**Wealth and Pride - ****Tiger Lily**

**Airy - ****Delphinium**

**Deceit - ****Orange Mock**

**Youth and poetry - ****Wisteria**

**Symbol of good luck - ****Clover, Four leafed**

**I love you – Red Chrysanthemum**

**You're adorable – White Camellia**

**Always cheerful - ****Coreopsis**

**Treasure and good fortune - ****Goldenrod**

**Egotism and formality - ****Narcissus**

**Elope with me - ****Spider Flower**

**I hope I didn't miss a single meaning. Tell me if I did miss one or made an error about the meaning okay… Thank you… I hope you like the game… Arigatou guzaimasu minna… ^_^**

**For those who haven't seen my Ryoma's birthday fic entitled '_Everybody IS Here'_ just click my name and read it... thanks... ^_^**

**To:**

**Minna-san,**

**Merry Christmas to all of you!**

**From:**

**~MitsukiJunko~**


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